Andrew Yee
October 18th 05, 01:46 AM
ESA News
http://www.esa.int
15 October 2005
Cassini-Huygens mission celebrates anniversary
On the eighth anniversary of the launch of the NASA/ESA/ASI
Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, the teams involved can look back at a string
of remarkable discoveries.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is one of the largest and most advanced
planetary exploration missions ever launched. It consists of two parts --
the Cassini orbiter and the Huygens probe. Cassini is currently orbiting
Saturn and taking pictures and measurements of Saturn and its moons, rings
and magnetosphere. Huygens successfully parachuted down through the
atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, at the start of 2005.
The mission was launched on 15 October 1997 and took nearly seven years to
reach Saturn, arriving on 1 July 2004. The route it took to Saturn
involved fly-bys of Venus, Earth and Jupiter to help give it the energy
necessary to reach Saturn.
Saturn itself is the second largest planet in the Solar System. It is made
of gas with a solid core and a liquid layer, and is famous for its rings
which are made chiefly of ice with some rocky material acting as a
colouring agent.
So far, it also has 34 named moons (47 in total), including Titan that is
known to have a thick nitrogen atmosphere rich in methane and is thought
to bear similarities with our planet in its 'pre-biotic' stage (just
before life began).
Since arriving at Saturn on 1 July 2004, Cassini has taken over 35 000
images of Saturn and its magnificent rings and its amazing moons. Numerous
discoveries have been made about the rings, the moons, the dynamic
magnetosphere and the planet itself. Cassini's remarkable instruments
provided the first glimpses of Titan's surface and gained a global picture
of this hazy world.
Cassini's radar provided the first pictures of Titan's surface. The
orbiter also provided the first detailed global view, including possible
volcanoes, rain clouds, flow features, lakes, craters and vast dune
fields, as well as other puzzling terrain. A soup of complex hydrocarbons,
including benzene, has been detected in Titan's atmosphere.
But the highlight of the mission so far is clearly the lifting of the veil
on smog-covered Titan. At around 11:30 UT, 14 January 2005, ESA's Huygens
probe landed the surface of this distant world. This event makes it the
only landing to take place in the outer Solar System and the furthest from
Earth.
The Huygens probe showed that Titan's surface has Earth-like processes and
morphology, complete with evidence for methane rain, erosion, stream-like
drainage channels and dry lake beds.
For more information:
Jean-Pierre Lebreton, ESA Huygens Mission Manager
E-mail: jplebret @ rssd.esa.int
Enrico Flamini, ASI Programme Manager
E-mail: enrico.flamini @ asi.it
Carolina Martinez, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena, California, USA
Tel: 001 818 354 9382
More about ...
* At Saturn and Titan
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/index.html
* Huygens raw images
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/titanraw/index.htm
* Sounds of Titan
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM85Q71Y3E_index_0.html
Related articles
* Some Cassini-Huygens science highlights
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMRP26Y3EE_0.html
* Titan's surface seen from fly-by on 22 August 2005
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEM7S6A5QCE_0.html
* Huygens 3D animation of Titan's surface
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMO8G808BE_0.html
* Saturn's moon Phoebe in 3D
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMIBF0XDYD_0.html
* Cassini-Huygens looks at Phoebe's distant past
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMNL63VQUD_index_0.html
* Cassini finds atmosphere on Enceladus
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM9RC2IU7E_index_0.html
* Cassini's Hyperion fly-by
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMQUK6DIAE_0.html
* Unusual geology seen during Enceladus fly-by
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMVTX808BE_0.html
Related links
* NASA's Cassini-Huygens site
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
* Italian Space Agency (ASI)
http://www.asi.it
* Huygens DISR team
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~kholso/
IMAGE CAPTIONS:
[Image 1:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMDC26Y3EE_index_1.html]
As the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens spacecraft orbits around Saturn, it
puts itself on a course to intercept Titan, and prepares to release the
Huygens probe.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a co-operative project of NASA, ESA and the
Italian Space Agency.
Credits: NASA/ESA
[Image 2:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMDC26Y3EE_index_1.html#subhead1]
This montage of images of the Saturnian system was prepared from images
taken by the US Voyager 1 spacecraft during its Saturn encounter in
November 1980. This artist's arrangement shows Dione in the foreground,
Saturn rising behind, Tethys and Mimas fading in the distance to the
right, Enceladus and Rhea off Saturn's rings to the left, and Titan in the
distant orbit at the top.
Credits: NASA
[Image 3:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMDC26Y3EE_index_1.html#subhead2]
This image was returned on 14 January 2005 by ESA's Huygens probe during
its successful descent to land on Titan. This is the coloured view,
following processing to add reflection spectra data, gives a better
indication of the actual colour of the surface. Initially thought to be
rocks or ice blocks, they are more pebble-sized. The two rock-like objects
just below the middle of the image are about 15 centimetres (left) and 4
centimetres (centre) across respectively, at a distance of about 85
centimetres from Huygens. The surface is darker than originally expected,
consisting of a mixture of water and hydrocarbon ice. There is also
evidence of erosion at the base of these objects, indicating possible
fluvial activity.
Credits: ESA/NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
http://www.esa.int
15 October 2005
Cassini-Huygens mission celebrates anniversary
On the eighth anniversary of the launch of the NASA/ESA/ASI
Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, the teams involved can look back at a string
of remarkable discoveries.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is one of the largest and most advanced
planetary exploration missions ever launched. It consists of two parts --
the Cassini orbiter and the Huygens probe. Cassini is currently orbiting
Saturn and taking pictures and measurements of Saturn and its moons, rings
and magnetosphere. Huygens successfully parachuted down through the
atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, at the start of 2005.
The mission was launched on 15 October 1997 and took nearly seven years to
reach Saturn, arriving on 1 July 2004. The route it took to Saturn
involved fly-bys of Venus, Earth and Jupiter to help give it the energy
necessary to reach Saturn.
Saturn itself is the second largest planet in the Solar System. It is made
of gas with a solid core and a liquid layer, and is famous for its rings
which are made chiefly of ice with some rocky material acting as a
colouring agent.
So far, it also has 34 named moons (47 in total), including Titan that is
known to have a thick nitrogen atmosphere rich in methane and is thought
to bear similarities with our planet in its 'pre-biotic' stage (just
before life began).
Since arriving at Saturn on 1 July 2004, Cassini has taken over 35 000
images of Saturn and its magnificent rings and its amazing moons. Numerous
discoveries have been made about the rings, the moons, the dynamic
magnetosphere and the planet itself. Cassini's remarkable instruments
provided the first glimpses of Titan's surface and gained a global picture
of this hazy world.
Cassini's radar provided the first pictures of Titan's surface. The
orbiter also provided the first detailed global view, including possible
volcanoes, rain clouds, flow features, lakes, craters and vast dune
fields, as well as other puzzling terrain. A soup of complex hydrocarbons,
including benzene, has been detected in Titan's atmosphere.
But the highlight of the mission so far is clearly the lifting of the veil
on smog-covered Titan. At around 11:30 UT, 14 January 2005, ESA's Huygens
probe landed the surface of this distant world. This event makes it the
only landing to take place in the outer Solar System and the furthest from
Earth.
The Huygens probe showed that Titan's surface has Earth-like processes and
morphology, complete with evidence for methane rain, erosion, stream-like
drainage channels and dry lake beds.
For more information:
Jean-Pierre Lebreton, ESA Huygens Mission Manager
E-mail: jplebret @ rssd.esa.int
Enrico Flamini, ASI Programme Manager
E-mail: enrico.flamini @ asi.it
Carolina Martinez, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena, California, USA
Tel: 001 818 354 9382
More about ...
* At Saturn and Titan
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/index.html
* Huygens raw images
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/titanraw/index.htm
* Sounds of Titan
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM85Q71Y3E_index_0.html
Related articles
* Some Cassini-Huygens science highlights
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMRP26Y3EE_0.html
* Titan's surface seen from fly-by on 22 August 2005
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEM7S6A5QCE_0.html
* Huygens 3D animation of Titan's surface
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMO8G808BE_0.html
* Saturn's moon Phoebe in 3D
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMIBF0XDYD_0.html
* Cassini-Huygens looks at Phoebe's distant past
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMNL63VQUD_index_0.html
* Cassini finds atmosphere on Enceladus
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM9RC2IU7E_index_0.html
* Cassini's Hyperion fly-by
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMQUK6DIAE_0.html
* Unusual geology seen during Enceladus fly-by
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMVTX808BE_0.html
Related links
* NASA's Cassini-Huygens site
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
* Italian Space Agency (ASI)
http://www.asi.it
* Huygens DISR team
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~kholso/
IMAGE CAPTIONS:
[Image 1:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMDC26Y3EE_index_1.html]
As the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens spacecraft orbits around Saturn, it
puts itself on a course to intercept Titan, and prepares to release the
Huygens probe.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a co-operative project of NASA, ESA and the
Italian Space Agency.
Credits: NASA/ESA
[Image 2:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMDC26Y3EE_index_1.html#subhead1]
This montage of images of the Saturnian system was prepared from images
taken by the US Voyager 1 spacecraft during its Saturn encounter in
November 1980. This artist's arrangement shows Dione in the foreground,
Saturn rising behind, Tethys and Mimas fading in the distance to the
right, Enceladus and Rhea off Saturn's rings to the left, and Titan in the
distant orbit at the top.
Credits: NASA
[Image 3:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMDC26Y3EE_index_1.html#subhead2]
This image was returned on 14 January 2005 by ESA's Huygens probe during
its successful descent to land on Titan. This is the coloured view,
following processing to add reflection spectra data, gives a better
indication of the actual colour of the surface. Initially thought to be
rocks or ice blocks, they are more pebble-sized. The two rock-like objects
just below the middle of the image are about 15 centimetres (left) and 4
centimetres (centre) across respectively, at a distance of about 85
centimetres from Huygens. The surface is darker than originally expected,
consisting of a mixture of water and hydrocarbon ice. There is also
evidence of erosion at the base of these objects, indicating possible
fluvial activity.
Credits: ESA/NASA/JPL/University of Arizona